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We should condemn the targeting of all civilian life, no matter who does it. That this is apparently controversial is testament to the depravity of a media and political class that shuts down, distorts and denounces calls for peace. The heinous attacks on civilians in Israel by Hamas were utterly deplorable.
This cannot justify the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians, who are paying a price for a crime they did not commit. All human life is equal. Why is it so difficult for our politicians to be consistent in this basic moral principle?
This is the question that many people in this country are asking when they express solidarity with the Palestinian people. They are not expressing support for Hamas. To deliberately conflate the two is a disgusting, cynical and chilling attempt to further erode our democratic rights, and wilfully ignores a very basic demand: to stop the killing of innocent people.
The global community has a responsibility to de-escalate this catastrophic situation. That means calling for an immediate ceasefire. That means the release of Israeli hostages. That means ending the siege of Gaza. And that means recognising the underlying roots of this tragic cycle of violence: the enduring occupation of the Palestinian people.
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Category: Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn: “I Condemn Violence Against All Civilians, Why Can’t Keir Starmer?”
Unprecedented crises call for bold solutions
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unprecedented-crises-call-bold-solutions
Transformative politics and a renewed commitment to democracy are needed if we’re to build a more equal, sustainable and peaceful world, writes JEREMY CORBYN MP
Jeremy Corbyn MP, former leader of the Labour Party …
Devoid of solutions for the crises they have created, the Tories have resorted to punching down on the most marginalised people in our society.
Rishi Sunak’s speech was an equally spineless charade. Not a word on housing. Nothing on social care. Does he care 4.2 million children live in poverty? Does he know that we’re sleepwalking into climate catastrophe?
Having witnessed this horror show of fear, despair and division, the Labour Party has a choice this week in Liverpool.
Do we let their hatred spread unchallenged? Or do we offer an alternative of inclusion, equality and hope? Do we allow them to convince the British public that inequality and poverty are inevitable? Or do we mobilise around the possibility of a better world?
Unprecedented crises call for bold solutions. That means building a new economy that satisfies human needs, not corporate greed.
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There is a reason why these demands for a more equal, sustainable and peaceful world are not being made by the Labour leadership.
The absence of transformative ideas has been caused by a dearth of democracy. This year marks 50 years since we founded the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy.
We did this to empower party members and expand their rights. Today, these rights are under attack up and down the country.
Local branches like my own are being sidelined, party members are being silenced and democracy is being stifled. This is not coincidental to the drastic political shift away from our redistributive programme.
Our transformative policies from 2017 and 2019 were not imposed from the top. They were developed, formulated and defended by members and affiliates.
That is how it should be. Democracy is the foundation of the Labour Party. It is essential to a healthy, creative and collective movement.
And, ultimately, only a movement that empowers its members can generate the transformative policies this country desperately needs.
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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unprecedented-crises-call-bold-solutions
Abbott vows to fight back after Labour’s ‘fraudulent’ investigation
Union leaders and MPs demand justice for first black woman MP
Dianne Abbot MP DIANE ABBOTT has called on Sir Keir Starmer to prove his commitment to fighting anti-black racism amid growing anger over Labour’s “fraudulent” investigation into the left-wing MP.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, TUC president Matt Wrack and scores of socialist MPs and activists have joined the campaign to restore Britain’s first black female MP’s Labour whip.
Speaking to the Morning Star, Ms Abbott said: “I appreciate the support. But this is all about much more than me.
“The issues are Labour Party democracy and the leadership’s commitment to recognising and fighting anti-black racism.”
Labour faces increasing pressure to conclude its investigation into the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP’s comments about racism after she branded the process “fraudulent” in a statement earlier this week.
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Watch: Jeremy Corbyn’s comments on wealth tax are going viral
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Recalling his time as Labour leader, He added: “I remember talking to the CBI about this. I was trying to persuade them about what a good idea it would be to increase taxation.
“And they were all staring at me – lots of them – and the point I just made was: OK. I get you don’t want to increase tax. I get you don’t want pay any more tax.
“But are you happy walking past rough sleepers when you go to your office on a Monday morning. Just ask yourself that question. What kind of society do you want to live in?”
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Keir Starmer’s reshuffle moves Labour further away from its core values
Starmer should be looking to Clement Atlee for inspiration, not Tony Blair
Keir Starmer sucking up to the rich and powerful at World Economic Forum, Davos. With the Government on the rack amidst the austerity-fuelled school building crisis, yesterday’s shadow cabinet reshuffle gave Keir Starmer one final chance to live up to his leadership pledges: to unite the Labour Party and offer the country a transformative programme, one which is more urgent and popular than ever in the Tories’ broken Britain. Sadly, what we got, as commentators have concluded, was yet another shift to the Right.
Nowhere was this clearer than in moves against the soft left, particularly Lisa Nandy, who was demoted for the second time, now to shadow an international development ministry which doesn’t even exist. Preet Gill, in turn, left the shadow cabinet, while Nick Thomas-Symonds faced another demotion, to Shadow Minister without Portfolio. Rosena Allin-Khan left the Shadow Cabinet after Starmer told her he did “not see a space for a mental health portfolio in a Labour Cabinet”, despite having herself sat in the shadow cabinet in such a role
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Meanwhile, the scrapping of the dedicated Shadow Development brief means that Starmer’s pledge to re-establish the department abolished by Boris Johnson will be added to his long list of broken promises. Nor will there be a dedicated employment rights role, the first time in nearly half a decade that Labour’s Shadow Cabinet has not contained such a role; big business has a dedicated secretary of state, but workers don’t. The loss of these roles signals danger for progressive politics.
Of course, it goes without saying that there were no promotions for members of the Socialist Campaign Group, who are uniformly excluded from the Shadow Cabinet. How far we are from the days when Starmer promised to build on Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-austerity agenda and ‘end factionalism’.
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